Posted on December 3, 2016

How to Use LinkedIn's New 'Open Candidate' Feature

You’re in the market for a new position, and you know LinkedIn is a great place to find new jobs and connect with recruiters. How do you indicate that you’re open to new opportunities, if you’re currently employed or don’t want to seem desperate?

Until recently, the only way to alert recruiters that you are open to new job would be to update your headline with terms like “Seeking New Position” or “Available for New Opportunities.” Unfortunately, these are instant giveaways to your current colleagues that you’re looking to jump ship. If you're in transition, this can take up precious space in your headline that could otherwise be used to highlight your skills.

Now you can privately signal to recruiters that you’re considering new opportunities without having to broadcast it on your profile, while those happy in their current positions can go about their day uninterrupted. Recruiters can now focus their energies on candidates much more likely to respond with genuine interest.

If you’re looking for a new job while already employed, don't worry, there’s no indication on your profile page that you’re open to offers. This signal is only viewable to recruiters using LinkedIn’s premium (paid) service and, if your current firm has an account, LinkedIn is taking steps to prevent them from seeing this status.

Dan Shapero, LinkedIn’s senior product manager of LinkedIn Careers, wrote on the company's blog, "Now, you can privately indicate to recruiters on LinkedIn without worrying. We will hide the Open Candidates signal from recruiters at your company or affiliated company recruiters."

To change your status in Open Candidates, simply open the ‘Jobs’ menu and select ‘Preferences’. You’ll see a new menu that allows you to update your preferences and to give more detail about the types of offers you’re interested in.

This allows recruiters to understand the type of role you’d consider, and make sure that the opportunities they contact you about are exactly what you’re looking for. This also refines the positions LinkedIn serves to you through their "Jobs You May Be Interested In' feed.

Have you been contacted through LinkedIn as a result of using Open Candidate? We'd love to hear your success story!

We're wishing you all the best in your job search!